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Monday, June 6, 2011

E3: Microsoft Conference Summary

That's right it's that time again. This year's E3 is in full swing and Microsoft steps up to the plate first. For those who don't know, E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo and it gives an opportunity for video game companies to debut their big projects. It's a yearly event open to press only and is pretty important since announcements like these actually can have an effect on a company's stock predictions. But back to Microsoft.

You can find a stream of the conference here:
http://e3.gamespot.com/press-conference/microsoft-e3/index.html

Here's a summary of the major things they announced:
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
Halo 4
Mass Effect 3
The New Tomb Raider

Overall, I'm not really that impressed. While this lineup isn't necessarily bad, it's extremely mediocre. I am excited for Mass Effect 3, but at the end of the day it's just another sequel that everyone already knew about. Here's the Halo 4 trailer if you're interested:

Now obviously, Microsoft's main focus this time around was Kinect games.

But once again, Dance Central is the only one that shows any promise of actually being fun. The star wars game looks interesting, but it just comes down to being an on-rails hack and slash with unresponsive controls. In the video demoing the game, the responsiveness of the character to body commands is a little better than I expected, but still subpar. Games today should have tight controls that make you feel like you're totally in control. Every time an action you perform fails to register properly, you'll be taken out of the experience, and that is a very bad thing for a game peripheral devoted to integrating your body and mind into the experience. The main problem with the Kinect is that there aren't any game designers who can figure out what to with the damn thing. To put it simply, Kinect is ahead of its time. It's actually a really powerful device, but we won't see anything besides dance games and on-rails adventures or shooters for a long time.

Many games are going to be featuring Kinect support, including Mass Effect 3, which will allow you to voice out dialogue options and teammate commands (which might actually be useful). Minecraft is going to be interesting on the 360. It'll definitely make everyone forget about the cheap knockoff that is FortressCraft. However, Minecraft is still technically not finished on PC. Given Microsoft's somewhat strict control over the amount of free updates a single game can do and the lack of mod support on a console, Minecraft on the 360 might have a tough upward hill to climb.

The one game I am really excited for though, is the new tomb raider. Lara's getting yet another reboot, but this time they're going for a much more realistic approach.

No longer will we see a supermodel back flipping through the jungle without a scratch, the character is much grittier this time, forced to brave the brutality of nature using only her instincts and intelligence. This might be a Lara croft game I actually buy.

Overall, the opening to this E3 is pretty meh, and I mean that seriously. I expect much more from Nintendo and Sony.

Update: Can't believe I forgot to mention Skyrim, ya that's coming out to, but once again, we already knew about it. Speaking of Skyrim:

I personally thought there was a bit too much kinect stuff and some of it looked a bit strange, mainly the ones involving shooting.Though we all laughed when the "Reconnect the controler" bit popped up at the beginning of the demo.

If you want info on PC gaming news, you'll have to look for the presentation by individual companies. I'm sure Valve might have an interesting presentation. Also, Skyrim will most likely be released on PC, as I'm pretty sure the other Elder Scrolls games have.